ELIJAH & ELISHA | Dr Conrad Vine 1

All right. So, good afternoon or good evening everybody.

It’s a privilege and a joy to come and share with you here as the sour thous are almost upon us. Um [clears throat]

when uh I was sitting down at the lunch table and getting from my getting from the table to my car takes about an hour because I have to be polite to people.

And so I was trying to get to the car and I got home and got into my like preaching outfit you might say. And uh

Pastor Milam texts me and says, “Is 7:00 okay for you?” I said, “Oh, that’s wonderful.” And uh as we were driving back, my wife said, “Did he say 7 a.m.

or 7:00 p.m.?” I said, “I think it was 7:00 p.m.” he said. And we’ve probably got 15 minutes after we get there before

everybody drifts in. So, I arrive here tonight and the place is full. Well,

praise the Lord. And so, um I want to say thank you to the audio visual team for all they do to make these things possible. You know, for those of

watching online, the streaming on multiple YouTube sites and Facebook sites, it’s quite a technical feat to get this all up and running and it looks seamless when you’re watching it online,

maybe at home. Um, but when you’re actually in the heat of the moment, it’s a complex operation. So, I want to thank God and praise him for the audio visual

team back there. Thank you guys. You did an incredible job.

And so, [clears throat] um, tonight I’m not going to speak about Ahab and, uh,

Elijah. must be about Elijah and Elisha because this is a story about transitions in ministry.

It’s a story about one prophet giving the mantle to the next generation. And one of the reasons we’re here at LCI is

for us not just to find uh opportunities for us to serve in ministry, but for some of us that we’re saying, Lord,

who’s going to carry this ministry to the next level? Who am I going to pass this ministry on to? who where’s the next generation that you’re rising to

stand up and be counted in earth’s final hours. And so tonight I’m going to speak about the transition of Elijah to Elijah

to Elisha. Uh that’s going to be our journey this evening. And um that’s going to be the journey tonight. We’re going to look first at the journey into

ministry for Elisha. We’re then going to look at the journey to the Jordan with Elijah and Elisha together. That’s the transition. And then the journey to

heaven by Elijah. And then we’re going to come to our conclusion. So that’s the journey we’re going to make tonight and we’ve broken it down into three stages

and um so as we begin invite you to bow your heads with me and we invite the presence of the Holy Spirit. So shall we pray? Heavenly Father we thank you that the Sabbath hours are almost upon us.

Lord we thank you that we can honor the fourth commandment and be obedient to your word here tonight. Lord we thank you for the freedoms we yet enjoy in

this nation. And father, we are mindful tonight of our brothers and sisters around the world in places like Nigeria and North Korea where our brothers and sisters are facing real persecution.

Father, draw close to them as the comforter. May your angels watch over them and over us tonight. And Lord, as I as I share the word of life tonight from from the word of God, I’m asking, Lord,

that you will speak through me and for me, Lord, that whatever humble offering I’ve put together, you make it into something beautiful, something meaningful, something powerful,

something life-changing, and something that breathes words of life into lives of those here tonight and those watching online. So, Father, forgive me for my sins. Forgive us for all of our sins.

Father, may nothing come between us and you, our holy God, tonight. And Lord,

may you be glorified in all that is said and done. In the powerful name of Jesus,

we pray. Amen. All right. So, back in 1913, um, Sir Ernest Shackleton, the famous explorer of the Antarctic, he

posted the following ad in the London Times. And this is what the ad said. It said, “Men wanted for hazardous journey,

small wages, bitter cold, long months of complete darkness, constant danger, safe

return, doubtful, honor and recognition in case of success. You applied to Ernest Shackleton at Burlington Street there in London. Shortly afterwards,

over 5,000 men submitted their letters of interest. They were signing up for something like this.” Now, I’m among the men here tonight. How many of you would sign up for something as vague as that?

Okay. All right. So, there’s one brave gentleman here. All right.

[clears throat] But the truth of the matter is men need mountains to climb.

And when men don’t have mountains to climb, they go down into a sinkhole emotionally and spiritually and physically. Men need mountains to climb.

God has designed men to climb mountains.

And if a man doesn’t have a mountain, a physical mountain or a spiritual mountain, uh then he’s going to um fail spiritually and economically and in many

other ways. You know, we may say that Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world is yet to that has been scaled. But there are greater mountains

today uh the great mega cities of the world where Christ is yet unknown. Those are spiritual mountains today that have yet to be scaled. And God is still

looking for men and women to answer the call to go and climb those spiritual mountains and bring the gospel to those nations. Um but men need mountains to

climb. And in Ezekiel 22:30, we briefly looked at this verse on uh on our opening night together on Wednesday. Um this is Ezekiel speaking from the

perspective of the exile in Babylon. And and God is kind of explaining like why things went wrong. And one of the reasons he says is this. God says, “And

I sought for anyone among them who would stand who would repair the wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf

of the land so that I would not destroy it. But I found no one.”

But I found no one. Though God was looking, he was looking for a man somewhere with the courage to stand up and be counted.

Now when Elijah stood on Mount Carmel, he thought he was on his own.

But we know later that there were 7,000 knees in Baal that are yet people yet to bow the knee to Baal. And the text says in first kings um 18 that all Israel was

gathered to Mount Carmel. That means when Elijah stood on his own there were the 7,000 out there that that number that God gave him later in first kings

18 and 19 that there was that 7,000 people who were not speaking up. They were not standing up. They were not speaking out. But they were saying Lord

answer Elijah’s prayers. Lord, do not answer the prayers to Baal, but answer the prayers to Elijah. You have no idea what happens when one person stands up.

When one person stands up, people gather strength and courage worldwide. That’s the blessing of the internet these days.

And God says to Ezekiel, “The nation of Israel of Judah fell because I was looking just for one man to stand in the

breach, and I found no one.” So, nobody should be left in any doubt of what God can do through the witness of one brave

man or woman. God can save a nation through one brave man or woman. And uh when we get to heaven, we’ll discover how many multitudes are saved because in

every stage of human history, one man or one woman had the courage to stand up and be counted.

But tonight, we’re going to look not in the days of Ezekiel. We’re going to look in the days of Elijah where God was looking for a replacement for Elijah and

he found one and his name was Elisha. So I want to reflect for a few minutes first on the journey into ministry for

Elisha himself. And uh we we tend to think of ministry these days. There kind of two models we see in the New Testament. The the classical model is

Matthew chapter 4 and Jesus walks along by the Sea of Galilee and and he sees Peter, James, John and Andrew in a boat and he says, “Follow me and I will make

you fishes of men.” And they left their boats behind and they followed Jesus.

And the modern version of that is you leave your secular employment behind, your profession, your trade, your skill,

your craft, your business, and you go to seminary and you become a full-time gospel worker. But the most successful gospel worker in the New Testament was

called Paul. And he never went to um the seminary three and a half years with Jesus Christ. That is following on the roads of of of uh Israel there or

Palestine. um he was called um to use his his technical skills as a tent maker to gain access not just to the physical

marketplaces but to the marketplace of ideas and that’s where he traded not just in physical goods but in spiritual

goods the marketplace of ideas and so we see these two different models of ministry in the New Testament but we’re going to dwell for a minute here on the

calling of Elisha and so first Kings 19 this is when Elijah comes up to Elisha it says so he set out from there and

found Elisha son of Sheahat who was plowing. There were 12 yolk of oxen ahead of him and he was with the 12.

Elijah passed by him and threw his mantle over him. He left the oxen, ran after Elijah and said, “Let me kiss my father and my mother and then I will follow you.” Then Elijah said to him,

“Go back again. What have I done to you?” He returned from following him,

took the yolk of oxygen oxygen and slaughtered them. Using the equipment from the oxen, he boiled their flesh and gave it to the people and they ate. Then

he set out and followed Elijah and became his servant. And that’s the call of Elisha.

So what do we learn from this short passage about the call of Elisha? What do we learn about Elisha here? The first thing is that Elisha was answering the

call to a committed life. He says to Elijah, “I will follow you.

I’ve been a faithful servant to my father’s house, but now God is calling me to a different chapter of ministry.

And I will follow the public enemy number one, not because he’s public enemy number one, but because he is God’s faithful voice in my generation.

I will follow the public enemy number one. It’s a committed life. We know this is a God-fearing family because his name

means my God is salvation. Now Elijah um L E is my God. Um, Elohim E, Benny is my son. So, Eli means Jehovah is my God.

That’s what Elijah means. And so, in a nation that is dedicated to the worship of Baal, Elijah’s name is a standing rebuke to the king of King Ahab and and

Jezebel. And um when Elijah stands before um King Ahab in First Kings or 17:1, he says, “As as Jehovah God, the

God of Israel liveth before whom I stand, there shall be no rain in these land these three and a half years except by my word, sayeth the Lord.” That’s

what he says to to Elijah to Ahab. And he says to Eli, to Ahab, you think that that um Baal is God of this land? No.

Jehovah is God of this land. And I’m not just standing be before you Ahab. I stand before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. And that’s the source of my authority.

And when when Jacob came before Pharaoh um in the end of the book of Genesis there, and Pharaoh was like the the US president of his era. And Jacob was an

old um an old man who raised sheep all his life from a despised profession and and looked down upon ethnic group. It

was Jacob who blessed the pharaoh of his time because he stood in the presence of God. And when we stand in the presence of God and have an awareness that we

live and we breathe and we stand in the presence of the living God, then we can look presidents and princes in the eyes because we stand in the presence of the

living God. [snorts] And so Elisha is called by Elijah into the prophetic ministry. His name means my God is salvation. And we know that he comes

from a wealthy family. Why? Because after three and a half years of famine and drought, he still has 12 yolk of oxen.

That’s a serious herd. 24 cattle is a decentsized herd in any any time of human history. So after three and a half

years of famine and drought when King Ahab with his servant Obadiah were out looking for any forage of food for their for their animals first Kings 18 when he

find when he’s looking for for food and water we now discover there’s a family Elisha’s family and miraculously God has provided for them in the midst of the

famine their bread and their water is sure you might say if they’ve got 12 yolk of oxen God has protected them through the midst

of the famine that’s gone come come upon the nation We know that this is a wealthy family because he has servants.

It’s a united family. How do we know that? Elisha goes and kisses his mother and his father goodbye. He’s showing respect for his parents and honoring

them before he turns the next chapter of life and ministry and follows Elijah. We know the prophetic calling was a

dangerous one. When Elisha said, “I will follow you,” he was answering the call to a dangerous life. He was leaving a

comfortable home where he was the master and he had servants and he had oxen and he had fields and he may have been the oldest in the family. He was leaving a

comfortable life behind. Now he was going to follow wherever Elijah went up and down the roads of Palestine. If Elijah was hunted by Jezebel, so would

Elisha be hunted by Jezebel. If Jezebel sought the life of Elijah, she would be seeking the life of his servant Elisha.

The next in line to the prophetic mantle. He was going to be this was a calling to a lonely life. He would be mocked by boys, hunted by kings, beed by

his own servant, Ghaheshi. He would ask to be cured to cure the incurable such as non. He would be asked to raise the dead. Jezebel would be hunting for her life as she’d hunted for Elijah’s life.

So Elisha was answering the call to a dangerous ministry. And he says to Elisha, Elijah, I will follow you.

This is a committed young man.

And how does he dis how does he show that he is committed to this prophetic ministry? He sacrifices all those 12 yolk of oxen and he burns the yolks and

then the agricultural implements and he feeds it to the to the servants and says there’s no going back.

There’s no going back. And having burnt everything and eaten everything and and given everything away, he now follows

Elijah on the roads of Palestine. The next thing we learn about this is this is a call to a sacrificial life. Elijah says to Elisha, he says, “Go back again,

for what have I done to you?” Or put another way, Elijah says to Elisha, “Count the cost before you follow me.”

Have you counted the cost for what you’re about to do? Following me is not a pathway to to to fame. It’s not a pathway to prestige. It’s not a path a pathway to fortune or wealth or honor.

If you’re really going to follow me,

Elisha, you need to count the cost. I’m going to be upfront with you about this.

Entering the prophetic role is going to change your life forever. You will live on the edge for the rest of your life in almost every way possible. You are

leaving behind a comfortable life for a sacrificial life. Um Elisha um because of his parents, he was a land owner with

servants and oxen. He was to receive a significant inheritance. But by the time we end this ser this passage, the very last phrase it says he became his servant.

So he starts out, as you might say, the crown prince in the family, the man who’s going to inherit everything. He’s got a home and oxen and servants and

land and water. And he ends up as a servant by the end of this chapter. He’s willing to have a complete inversion in

his social role because this is where God is calling him now.

It’s a call to a committed life. It’s a call to a sacrificial life. He’s been faithful with his father’s oxen and now

God can entrust to him his heavenly father’s flock. When we are faithful in small things, God knows he can entrust a larger chapter of ministry to us. And if

we want God to give us a larger scope of ministry, a larger tent of ministry, I want to challenge you tonight. Be faithful in what God has called you to do today. And if somebody’s asking you

to do something, say there is nothing so small that you cannot do it. Elisha was asked to be Elijah’s servant. We learn later a passage we’re going to come to.

Um, one of the servants of the king says, “Yes, there’s a prophet. His name is Elisha. He’s the guy who used to rinse Elijah’s hands with some water.”

Like, he literally washed the hands of Elijah. That was part of his job description. So, he goes from a high social status position to a low social

state status position. This is a call to a sacrificial life. He would no longer have a home to return to each night. He would no longer have any personal space

or personal time. He would trek tirelessly the length and breadth of the the roads of Israel for the rest of his life.

He was also answering the call to an empowered life.

2 Kings chapter 2 verse 9 and 10. I don’t have the uh I guess I’ve got the screen there. Yes, there we are. 2 Kings 29 and 10. The verse there says this,

“Please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit.” And Elijah responds by saying, “You’ve asked for a hard thing.”

So, what does that mean? If you’re going to enter into ministry, you need the gift of the Holy Spirit.

And the gift of the Holy Spirit is not something everybody’s ready to receive because it’s going to turn your life upside down. It’s going to rejig your

values. It’s going to brush wash away the the fluff of this world and and make you realize what is truly important in the eyes of God. And God is going to

lead you through those valleys of despond as well as those mountaintop experiences. and he allows us to go through those valleys because pain has a

way of rearranging our priorities. Pain rearranges our priorities like nothing else. So he was answering the call to an empowered life. So was this was this

difficult for Elisha or for the Holy Spirit? Well, hear me my brothers and sisters. When the Holy Spirit was poured out at Pentecost, his anointing brought

empowerment for mission, boldness of vision, um courage in witness, steadfastness under persecution,

perseverance in conflict, persistency in prayer, and yes, mission also brings separation from family. It brings rejection in those relationships nearest

and dearest to you. It brings you the active enmity of Satan. And Satan starts running interference in your life from this day forward. But it also brings contentment, rejoicing in all things,

and joy in heaven above, such as the impact of receiving the spirit of God.

When you answer the call to to gospel ministry, whatever your ministry you’re engaged in here at LCI, there are many beautiful ministries down there in the gymnasium, you will know that when you

step into the arena, Satan is going to push back immediately.

And you cannot fight against Satan on your own. And so, this is a call to an empowered life that you are now um you’re now living, your life is before

men and angels. you are filled with the Holy Spirit and uh Satan’s going to do his utmost to discourage you and dissuade you and divert you and depress

you and destroy you because you answer the call to ministry.

This exactly what happens to Elisha as well.

So if you’re going to answer the call to ministry like Elisha,

you see you’re answering the call to a life of commitment. I will follow you God no matter the cost, no matter what come may come my way.

It’s a call to a sacrificial life. That is, Lord, I’ve countered the cost. And I will be faithful in all things, no matter how big or small. And it’s a call to an empowered life, which means Lord,

give me a double portion of your spirit and never leave me in the fight.

And if you’re not ready for a sacrificial life and you’re not willing for a committed life and you’re not living ready for life of spiritual warfare and you’re not ready for life of

the infilling of the Holy Spirit that cause you to make do and see things you never thought possible, then don’t answer the call to ministry.

So this then is the call to ministry for Elisha. So let’s dwell for a few moments having looked at Elisha’s call to ministry. Maybe you see yourself in this

story in some places. Let’s look for a few moments at the journey to the Jordan. And the journey to the Jordan is the last journey that Elijah takes on

planet earth. It’s the journey that he makes down to the river Jordan to cross the Jordan before he is taken up to heaven by his heavenly father. So this

is no longer the journey into ministry from with Elisha. But the journey to the Jordan actually takes place a number of years later. The text begins in 2 Kings

2:1. It says, “Now when the Lord was about to take Elijah up to heaven by a whirlwind.”

Now God had already revealed to Elijah that he was going to be taken up to heaven. So Elijah knows that he is now on his last journey. And this is going

to be a trip down memory lane. As we look at the places he goes, each of these places is significant in salvation

history. He’s going to go down memory lane to where God is going to take him up to heaven. And the text goes on to

say uh well it doesn’t say there but 2 Kings 2:1 it says Elijah and Elisha went.

So this is a journey that Elijah makes on his own with with Elisha. They’re [clears throat] now inseparable.

They’ve walked the paths of Israel for many many years. There’s been about 15 years from the call of Elisha to Elijah

being called up to heaven. Elisha has been his constant companion in ministry.

They’ve lived through constant wars between Egypt and Syria. They’ve witnessed the the murder of ma of Neabboth. They’ve lived through Jezebel’s hatred and persecution.

They’ve endured the reign of Ahab.

They’ve seen his death. They’ve seen the wicked king Ahaziah come to the throne.

And they’ve seen the calling down of fire upon Ahaziah’s soldiers on two occasions by Elijah. And through all this drama, Elisha has been Elijah’s

constant and faithful companion. Like he served an apprenticeship.

There is no shame in serving an apprenticeship.

There is no shame in saying, “Lord, I don’t think I’m quite ready. Team me up with somebody who’s in the front lines that I may walk with them and learn from them.” And if you are in a position

where you’re already in a frontline ministry, it is a good thing to start saying, “Lord, where’s the next generation coming from? I want to mentor

them. Bring me the next leader for this ministry so they can walk with me. They can study with me. They can engage in all the ministry activities that I’m engaged in. So that when it when it’s

passed when it’s time to pass on the mantle, there is somebody ready for me to pass the mantle on to.

It’s a responsibility. You know, as parents, we talk about stewardship.

Stewardship is not just having a a will to say, “What happens to your house if you die?” Stewardship also involves where are my children going to go if I die before they’re of age.

And if you have children and you don’t have a will and they’re minors, then the courts determine who gets your kids. And you don’t want to leave that to that

decision to the courts. You want to put it in your will, the legal guardianship of your children. That’s part of what stewardship means.

And so Elijah has mentored Elisha for about 15 years. They are walking side by side through the roads of Israel. They

have endured everything that Ahab and Jezebel have thrown at them. And all through this time, Elisha has been his faithful companion. The text I referenced earlier is on the screen now.

2 Kings 3:11.

And the text says, “But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” Then one of the servants of the king of Israel answered and said,

“Elasha, son of Shahat, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah, is here.”

End quote. What does this tell us? It means that even as Elijah’s faithful servant, even as an intern, even as someone who’s being men into a

leadership position, his faithfulness was known in the royal courts.

When Jesus sent out the 12 disciples in Mark 6 verse 12, 133 and 14, he sent them out and then you then you come to

the story of the death of John the Baptist halfway through Mark chapter 6 and the text says um when Herod heard about these things it says for the name of Jesus had reached his ears.

Jesus sent out 12 men but one name filtered up through society to the ears of Herod and it was not um it was not

Matthew, Mark, Luke or John. It was Jesus Christ.

And so those 12 disciples went out and theirs was not a ministry of self-promotion, of self- glorification.

They were not looking for their names to be whispered throughout the land of Israel. It was the name of Jesus that was known because of their ministry.

Whose name is glorified when you’ve passed through town as well? Whose name is glorified when I pass through town?

When any of us pass through town? Do we seek the glory of our own name? Do we want to become a name or a big person in the land? Or do we seek for the name of Jesus Christ to be glorified?

You know, I I think, you know, um how do I put this in practice in my own life?

You know, I I tend to wear like really bland clothing. Why? Because I don’t want people to remember what I wore.

Like the gray man tonight I’m wearing a red tie. Okay. But that’s an aberration.

The gray man is nice because you want to be remembered for the nobility of your character and the purity of your speech,

not for what you wore or your adornment.

And so you want to be known as someone who pointed people to Jesus Christ. And so Elisha’s ministry is known. He is known as a humble servant even to the kings of Judah and Israel.

So you don’t know how to have a front row, a starring role for your name to to go through the land. You people can recognize a faithful servant of God when

they see it. And you can be spoken about as a faithful servant of the Lord regardless of how high or low your role

may be in ministry. People recognize faithfulness to God. And the story of this journey to the Jordan, it really picks up here in 2 Kings 2 verse one,

second half of verse one through verse three. It says there, Elijah and Elisha were on their way from Gilgal. Elijah

said to Elisha, “Stay here, for the Lord has sent me as far as Bethl.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord liveth, and as you as

you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So they went down to Bethl. The company of prophets who were in Bethl came out to Elisha and said to him, “Do

you know that today the Lord will take your master away from you?” And he said, “Yes, I know. Be silent. Be silent.”

Now, this is a deliberate journey that Elijah is going on here. The first thing is they’re making this journey together.

Elijah is trusting Elisha with his last moments.

This is his successor. This is the guy he’s going to give the mantle to. Everything that happens on this journey,

Elijah wants to make sure Elisha knows what is going to happen on the journey to the Jordan and ultimately to the journey to heaven. And this is a very

deliberate um journey. The first step is Gilgal. And we say, well, what’s so special about Gilgal? Well, according to the book of Joshua chapter 4, Gilgal was

where the Israelites when they first crossed the river Jordan, they camped at Gilgal. Gilgal was the first place where they ate the fruit of the promised land.

Gilgore was the first place where they harvested the grains of the promised land. And it’s after Gilgal that there is no more mana because God is providing

for them from the promised land, from the agricultural produce there. It was Israel’s last place of safety and peace before they started the conquest of

Canaan. It was a place where they rested up. They saw the fulfillment of God’s promises. The mana was no longer coming down. The land was providing for the

people of Israel. Before them there were the battles. Jericho was just down the road. But this is their last place of rest, a place of sharing, a place of

safety, and a place of preparation for the battles that lay ahead. It was a place of deep spiritual significance for Israel. And Elijah in his own life had

had his own Gilgal moments. He lived in Gilead, remote Gilead before the confrontation with with Ahab. He lived in remote Zarapath in the Bale belt in

southern Siden, southern Lebanon of today. He lived for a couple of years with the widow of Zarapath before the confrontation on Mount Carmel in first kings chapter 18.

Yes, Elijah had his own Gilgal moments.

And he also had the time of of Mount Si in first kings 18 before God called him back into ministry when he fled there experiencing burnout. Let me ask you the

question tonight. Do you have your private gil goal as well?

Do you have a place that you can go back to? If not geographically and physically, but at least in your mind, a place where God brought you to a

promised moment. A place where God gave you rest from the battles that were going to go on before or after. A place

where you saw God’s miraculous provision transition from mana to the produce of the land. It’s important that we can look back in our spiritual lives and

say, “That was my spiritual gilgal. That was where God’s promises came true in my life. And that’s where God gave me a chance to pause and rest up and and rest

before the next spiritual battles came my way. Do you have your own spiritual Gilgal? And Elijah, he starts this journey to the Jordan. He starts at

Gilgal because this is the this is his this is has spiritual significance for all of Israel.

The next stop on this journey you see on the screen is Bethl.

They go from Gilgal to Bethl which means the house of God. Bethl was where Abraham first built an altar to God in Genesis 12 and verse 8. When God calls

Genesis in Genesis 11, there is no record of any altars. When when Abraham goes from the Caldes all the way north to Haran and in modern day northern Iraq, there is no record of any altars.

And it’s in Genesis chapter 12 that he comes down into Canaan to the promised land. And for the first time, Abraham is building altars. And he leaves a trail

of altars wherever he goes in Genesis 12 and Genesis chapter 13. Bethl is the place where Abraham builds an altar to

God. Bethl is the place where Abraham first invokes the name of Jehovah God,

Yahweh, God. Bethl is also where Jacob slept as he fled vengeful Esau, where God gave him the dream of a ladder stretching from heaven to earth and back

again. This is a place of incredible significance for the Israelite people.

This is what Jacob called the gate of heaven in Genesis 28. Jesus himself later spoke of that place and he says,

“Very truly I tell you, you will see heaven opened and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the son of man.” So Jesus was that heavenly ladder seen by Jacob in his dream at Bethl.

Bethl was the place for Elijah to remember the altars in his own life in Gilead

by the brook Cherith and most importantly on Mount Carmel.

Bethl was a place to remember the altars of his life. Altars were where Elijah had bowed in private worship. Altars on

Mount Carmel where Elijah had stood tall for God, often alone. And altars where God was glorified in his life and ministry.

And where are your altars? Does your family have altars?

Do you does your family have places or maybe geographical places or maybe times in the day where you pause and you bow before the King of Kings and Lord of Lords?

When I was growing up, we had morning worship and evening worship. That’s that those are the routines that whatever happened in the day, there was morning worship and there was evening worship.

And I praise God for my parents who had morning worship and evening worship.

Children recognize that children need routine. Children need regularity. They thrive on it.

I want to challenge you tonight to have your own altars in your own families to to start build them. If you haven’t got an altar, start an altar now. Not a phys, not necessarily a physical altar,

but have start setting those moments into your day when the coming you’re coming together as a family to bow before the living God.

And so Elijah goes from G from Gilgal.

He goes down to Bethl, which is a place where God where God has been worshiped through altars. And then 2 Kings 2:es 4 and 5 the journey goes on to the Jordan.

They come to Bethl and Elijah says to him, see it on the screen, Elisha, stay here for the Lord has sent me to

Jericho. But he, that is Elisha says, as the Lord liveth and as you yourself live, I will not leave you. So they came

to Jericho. The company of prophets were in Jericho drew near to Elisha and said to him, “Do you know that today the Lord will take your master away?” And he answered,”Yes, I know. be silent.

So they go from Gilgal,

a place of promise, a place of rest, a place of provision. They come to Bethl,

a place of altars, private worship and public worship. The most famous altar is on Mount Carmel. And now they come to

Jericho, which as many are many are familiar with is famous for the walls of Jericho came tumbling down. The first

victory in the promised land. That victory was gained by the angelic armies of heaven. And as Elijah is taking Elisha down this trip down memory lane.

And if you look at a map, there’s no logical reason he made this particular journey. This wasn’t a bird’s eye, you know, it wasn’t a straight trip down to the river Jordan. He’s taking Elisha,

he’s he’s helping Elisha relive the spiritually significant moments in his life and in Israel’s life. And he’s reminding him by the way he’s living how

God has worked in their lives in the past. And they come down to Jericho in the plains of Jericho there. And sister Dwight talks about uh this here. And uh

maybe I have it on the screen. No, I don’t have it on the screen. I should have it on the screen. I thought it was.

But listen, this what patriarchs and prophets. It says this. How easily the armies of heaven brought down the walls of Jericho, that proud city. The captain

of the Lord’s host had communicated only with Joshua. The Israelites could not see the host of angels who um who were under the leadership of the son of God.

End quote.

So Jericho was a place of divine victory over walls that there was no human way to take those walls down. But God brought the walls of Jericho down for

God’s people. And Elijah as he’s walking to the Jordan, he’s walking with Elisha past these spiritually significant moments and saying, “This is what God

has done for us in our past. That you’re going to face your own Jericho, Elisha,

in your life. You’re going to face enemies that you you have no idea how you’re going to take those enemies out.

You’re going to face empires and kings and nations that are mocking the living God. But this is what God can do for those who are faithful to him.

It was on the plains of Jericho where Jesus appeared to Joshua in Joshua 4 and revealed himself as the commander

of the armies of the host of heaven. He was reminding um Elisha that we serve a personal God. And we serve a personal

God who fights for his people. And he doesn’t just fight for his people, but he has angelic armies who step in and intervene to save his children around

the world. This was also on the plains of Jericho that Achen sinned and stole the Babylonian garments from the from the ruins of Jericho. It was on the

plains of Jericho that the sin of Achen had to be removed from the camp. That if you’re going to enter the promised land,

you’ve got to put away sin in the midst of the camp.

Abraham, Adam and Eve were thrown out of Eden for one sin. Moses did not enter the promised land for one sin. Achen and

his entire family could not enter the promised land because of one sin. It’s a reminder to us that if we want to enter the promised land, we have to put away

sin in our own lives as well. Starting tonight, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to convict us of where those sins are and what those sins are. We need to ask

him for the grace to remove them from our lives so they are no longer besetting sins. They are forgiven sins.

And so they come to the plains of Jericho. Elijah would have remembered on the plains of Jericho his own showdowns with the forces of evil. It would have

reminded him of what he did on Mount Carmel with the prophets of Baal in the showdown on the mountaintop there. He would reminded him of his own battle

with despair and depression and burnout under the trees on the road to the Mount Si when he fled into the wilderness there. Each one of us has our places of

spiritual battle in our past. And it’s important for us to remember those scenes of spiritual battle and to maybe pass them on to the next generation.

You know, when when um Moses was about to die, he told the history of how God had led Israel to the people before he

died in Deuteronomy. And when Paul was about to leave the church of Ephesus in Acts 20, he told them the story of how God had worked in the history of that

church. And when David was about to pass away, he told the story of how God had led through his covenant walk with him to his son Solomon and to the leaders of

Israel. It’s important to tell the story to the next generation. It’s important to tell this is what God did. That is

where he did it. Those are the sites where he actually acted on our behalf to save his people in incredible ways. If we don’t pass this to the next

generation, then the tragedy is in Joshua chapter 1, it says there arose a new generation who knew not the Lord or his ways. They did not know his saving ways on behalf of Israel.

And if we as parents don’t tell the next generation, this is what God did in our family, how are they going to find out?

And if we don’t talk in our churches about this is what God did in life of our congregation, how’s the next generation going to learn? Oh, this is how God operates.

So I want to encourage us here today to start telling forth the goodness and the mercies and the providences of God in our lives so the next generation can know this is how God works.

This is how he works in our context.

This is how you recognize the hand of God. And if we don’t part if we don’t talk about these things, if we don’t write these things down, if we don’t record them, then the next year we’re

going to raise a generation who knows not the Lord and they’re going to go after the gods of this world. And so Elijah is taking Elisha his trip down

memory lane on his way to the river Jordan.

2 Kings 2:6-7 the journey goes on. It says, “Then Elijah said to him, stay here for the Lord has sent me to the Jordan.” But Elisha said, “As the Lord

liveth, and as you yourself live, I will not leave you.” So the two of them went on. 50 men of the company of prophets also went and stood at some distance

from them as they both were standing by the Jordan. Elijah is coming to the Jordan.

This is where it all began because many years ago about 20 years previous to this story Elijah was living in remote Gilead on the eastern side of the Jordan.

See Elijah was a Tishbite. That’s a remote rural area east of the Jordan. There’s no cities in Gilead.

There’s no trading post. There’s no palaces. There’s no highways there. This is the rural backwaters of northern Georgia.

Honestly, this isn’t Berian Springs.

It’s not Linda. It’s not Ulta. And it’s not the General Conference.

This is a guy who comes from the rural backwaters. Nobody of any significance came from Tishbay in Gilead. But the great one of the greatest prophets ever

to live came from Tishpe in Gilead. And when God called Elijah to the prophetic ministry, Elijah had to walk as you’re

looking at it. Elijah had to walk west from Gilead to the river Jordan. And as he crossed the Jordan and comes up to Samaria, it’s like he’s crossing the Rubicon.

when Julius Caesar was recalled by the Senate of Rome and told to leave his armies in in in in Transalpane Gaul,

which is like modern day Switzerland and southern France, that the Senate of Rome said to Julius Caesar, “Your command of the armies has expired. You need to

return to Rome and report on what you’ve done.” Caesar knew they were going to try and execute him. So, he did what no Roman general was allowed to do. He

crossed the river in northern Italy called the Rubicon. And he brought his his legions with him in direct defiance of the Senate. And when he crossed that river, that means crossing the Rubicon.

You’ve heard the expression. He was basically saying, “I’m in control here and I’m not going to answer to the Senate.” It was an irreversible step.

And Elijah comes with Elisha down to the Jordan where 20 years ago he’d crossed that particular Rubicon on his way to Ahab’s palace. He’s coming back to where

it all started about 20 years ago. In crossing the Jordan, he would learn later learn as Christ would later say,

Christ said this, “If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”

When Elijah came the first time down to the Jordan, he had to make a choice. Do I cross this river and enter into battle with Ahab, or do I just go back to

Gilead and have a quiet life in the rural areas out there?

But he crossed the Jordan the first time and now at the end of his life after all his adventures he’s coming back to that river that he crossed at the start of

his ministry and he knows that this is entering the final chapter of life and ministry. This has a this is a moment where his ministry is coming full

circle. He’s going back to where it all began in the wilderness east of Jordan where he was a man who grieved over the spiritual condition of Israel. He was a

man we lead we read later in James chapter 5. He was a man of deep and earnest prayer. He was a man who was sensive and obedient to word of the

Lord. Seven times in first kings 17 is 17 it says the word of the lord said and in each time Elijah is obedient to the

word of the lord. Elijah does nothing in his ministry unless the word of the lord commands him to do something. And that’s why his ministry is so powerful because

he waits. He doesn’t just spring into action. He waits until he he knows what god wants him to do. We love to jump into action immediately,

don’t we? There’s a problem. We want to fix it. Elijah waited until God said,

“This is what you’re going to do.” He waited. So, he’s now coming back full circle.

He stood alone for God when nobody else would stand.

His personal integrity had won the widow of Zarapath to the kingdom of God.

Elijah stayed with the widow of Zarapath maybe two and a half years, we think, and she had a room for him.

He could have taken advantage of her.

But he didn’t. When he gives his her son back to her alive, she says, “Now I know that you are a man of God.” That in his

personal life, he demonstrated absolute integrity and absolute purity. He did not shack up with that widow Zarapath and say, “It’s because I’m here that you got food, so quit proquo, etc., etc.”

No. After he gives the widow’s wife, a son back to her, she says, “Now I know that you are a man of God and that the word of God is in you.”

So he lived a life of personal integrity when he had every opportunity to take advantage of his position and he didn’t.

He’d been hunted by a vengeful king and queen across the Middle East. He’d been public enemy number one. Ahab and Jezebel had sent messages about Elijah

to all neighboring kingdoms saying, “Do you have this guy in your land?” And uh so Elijah’s name wasn’t just known in Israel. It was known all across the

Middle East. And everybody knew what he stood for. And because he said, “There shall be no rain in Israel these years except by my word, sayaith the Lord,”

from that moment onwards, everybody in Israel was listening for the next word of the Lord.

Everybody was waiting for the word of the Lord, because it signified the end of the famine. And so that simple message, there should be no rain in the land except by my word sayith the Lord.

With that simple message, all of Israel is listening. They may not quite believe in Jehovah, but they’re all listening for when’s the next word of the Lord coming our way.

Amen. It was a simple message and a powerful message. And each stage of this journey down to the river Jordan, Elijah offers Elisha a way out.

Three times he says to him,

you see it there, stay here for the Lord has sent me to Jericho. Three times gives him the command, stay here. Are you sure you want to go through this

chapter of ministry with me? And three times Elisha refuses him. Elijah’s first words to Ahab that are recorded in First

Kings 17 are these. He said, “As the Lord, the God of Israel lives.” And Elisha’s first recorded words three times are to Elijah in this story, “As the Lord God liveth.”

So now we know that Elijah has really passed on the mantle to Elisha. Elijah started his ministry by saying, “As the

Lord God of Israel lives.” And now he’s got a young protetéé called Elisha. And every time he says, “Head back. You don’t need to do this.” Elisha always responds by saying, “As the Lord liveth.”

So now Elijah knows that Elisha is ready to pick up the mantle of leadership. At Gilgal, at Bethl, at Jericho, and the

Jordan, Elisha is offered a way out. And each time he refuses. Why? Because God has spoken to him just as God has spoken

to Elijah. And God has told Elisha on that very day that he’s going to take Elijah away from them to heaven. So now God is speaking to Elisha. Elijah is not

the only prophet walking down to the Jordan. Elisha is also a prophet in his own right by this stage here because God has spoken to him and revealed what the future is going to be. Like Elijah,

Elisha can now hear the word of God for himself. He’s ready for the transition in leadership.

Are we able to hear the word of God?

Can we rightfully say the word of the Lord came to me and this is what he said to me. You know, I had a dream last night.

It’s a kind of dream you don’t want to get. I was thinking last night, I need to print out my handouts for my seminar this morning and where am I going to get

a photocopier from? And last night I was dreaming that I was searching for a photocopy all around camp and I woke up really frustrated. Okay, I remember what

the dream was and this I know it was not the word of the Lord that came to me last night.

But there are times in life where in ministry you need to know that this is what God is asking you to do. And if you don’t have that assurance, then don’t

step out in presumption. Wait in faith and wait for him to reveal himself to you. It’s easy to jump into action as Westerners, we just want action, action,

action. I remember many years ago when I was in AFM, we had a school in in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. And it was a large school, maybe a thousand

mostly Muslim students. A lot of baptisms came from that school. And one day we got a letter from from the Young Muslim men’s association in that city saying, “You have 10 days to shut this school or else.

I know there’s jihadis in that country. You take these threats seriously.

And [snorts] the letter said, “You, we don’t want you to pray in the name of Jesus and you cannot have Bible classes for the Muslim students.”

So what do we do?

Yeah. So I asked my colleagues and I said, “Well, we could like jump on a plane to Guinea and go and meet with the Ministry of Education and show them

letter, but they know about it already and we can demand that they, you know,

hunt down those jihadis and take them out. We could do that.

That would be maybe the western secular thing to do. What did we do? We said,

“They’ve given us 10 days, so we’re going to put together a spreadsheet, and everybody in the office is going to sign up for one day of prayer and fasting,

and we’re going to cover those 10 days in prayer and fasting, and we’re going to pray, not that God will take away this problem. We’re going to pray that God will be glorified somehow in this

situation.” And that’s what we’re going to pray for. we’re going to wait on the Lord and we’re going to ask God to manifest his powerful right arm to save

his children. And so two days later, um the the local ministry of education,

they came to look at the now closed school and they said, “Well, yeah, we we understand that the jihadis don’t like you praying in the name of Jesus and they don’t like you having Bible

classes, but we have a problem with the fact that you don’t have classes on Sabbath.” This is a franophhone country and franophhone countries all have their schools on on Sabbath morning. They

said, “We don’t want you to have your classes on Sabbath morning either.”

So the the ministry of education was siding with the jihadis.

And we’re praying about this and on the fifth day um the missionary called me and said, “What should I do?” I said,

“Have a meeting with all the with all the parents and explain to them the situations.” They had a meeting with all the parents and there were mullers there whose children were in the school. This

school had the highest highest school leaving rate in the entire country. It was known as the center of academic excellence even though it met in mudbrook mudbrick huts basically but the

academics were excellent and so the parents came along we explained the situation and the missionary said to them if you want the school open and

your kids to graduate from high school you need to go and lobby the government so we have hundreds of angry Muslim parents heading off to the government lobbying for the Adventist school to be

reopened because we don’t want our kids to fail their high school exams and then on the day nine the Ministry of Education in the capital uh Connory.

They sent a team down from Ministry of Interior and they they investigated the situation. They looked at the school.

They examined all the records. They met with some of the students. At the end of the ninth day, they did a press conference and they said, “This is the single most successful high school in

the country. It was actually K through 12. We’re asking the missionaries to open it tomorrow as a 7th day Adventist school.” This is a Muslim country.

We opened [snorts] on the 10th day once again and the fear of the Lord fell upon that city. And so I spoke with our missionaries and said now the fear of

the Lord is there. We need to have a public evangelistic series among the Suzu Muslims and there was a large harvest of Muslim men came into the body

of Christ. This is what happens when like Elijah you wait on the Lord and you wait for God to manifest his goodness

and we don’t see things through human eyes and through human perspective because we just see this but God sees everything else.

And so three times Elijah says to Elijah, “Turn back here.” here. And each time Elisha refuses cuz he is now a prophet in good and regular standing.

And at each stage of this journey,

you’ve noticed in the text that we’ve been reading here, the young men, they meet young men from the schools of the prophets.

There are young men from the schools of the prophets in Gilgal, Bethl, and Jericho. We’ve just covered them in the text there.

Those schools of the prophets have been established by Samuel in 1st Samuel 19 as a training ground for the next generation. They live lives of

simplicity and austerity. They were trained in the scriptures. They were trained and they were sent on errands errands by the prophets. They were there

to rebuke the idolatry of Israel. They were there to stand in the breach whenever called upon. After his desert flight um after Mount Carmel, Elijah had

returned to restore the schools of the prophets in Gilgal, Jericho, and Bethl.

We see the story there in 2 Kings 4 of Elisha purifying the poison stew.

What about those schools of the prophets?

They’d lived through Jezebel’s persecution. They’d have lost friends.

They knew what it was to have a price on your head for following Jehovah God.

This was a band of brothers. They were colleagues in arms. They were brothers in ministry. When soldiers come back

from war and have their reunions, unless you were in that unit in that battle,

you can never understand what those men have gone through. And when they gather for their reunions, it’s a it’s strictly insiders only. You can come and listen

politely, but you have no idea what they’re talking about. You have no idea about the emotion, the trauma, and the pain and the bondedness that they have between those men who’ve gone through

battle together. And Elijah on the road to the Jordan, he’s not just visiting sites of historical theological significance. Gilgore, Bethl, Jericho,

etc. He’s visiting the schools of the prophets. Is his legacy in place?

They’ve survived Jezebel. They’ve survived Ahab.

Is his legacy in place? They have all paid a deeply personal price to withstand the fires of persecution.

They have survived everything that Ahab and Jezebel could throw at them.

And they said to Elisha, “God’s going to take him up to heaven today.” So God was speaking to those young men as well. So

Elijah, Elisha, and the young men of the schools of the prophets, they were all receiving the prophetic gift on the journey to the Jordan. And as Elijah is

visiting from Gilgal to Bethl to Jericho and so forth, as he’s making this journey with with Elisha, he’s saying his final farewells.

He’s inspecting the fruits of his labors. He’s passing on those final councils.

He has the assurance in the schools of the prophets, these brothers in arms who survived the persecution. And he has the assurance in Elisha next to him that his legacy is secure.

That what whatever God does to him later that day, if he takes him to heaven or allows him to die, that the the torch of faithful prophetic ministry is going to continue to the next generation.

His legacy is secure. The next generation of faithful defenders of Jehovah is now in place in our own lives. We’re not just called

to achieve something today, but we’re called to leave a legacy.

The psalmist says, “Surely goodness and mercy will follow me all the days of my life.” What is your legacy? When you leave a place, do you leave a trail of

goodness and mercy? Do you leave a pl you leave a trail where people recognize that when you were in town, that was the presence of the living God? Do you leave

a tail a trail of brokenness and bitterness? Or do you leave a trail of goodness and mercy all the days of your life? Because if I’m following close to

the heavenly shepherd and I’m sticking close to him as I live in his grace and his provision, that’s going to overflow to those behind me. Surely goodness and

mercy will follow me all the days of our lives. We are not just called to accomplish today. And as men, we like that idea, but we’re called to establish a legacy that will follow us tomorrow.

And Elijah is inspecting his legacy on this last trip to the Jordan. Is your legacy of God or is your legacy of man?

Is the ministry you built entirely revolved around you as a personality? Or are you establishing and trraining and developing and mentoring and nurturing

the next generation to follow in your path and to extend that ministry?

I want to challenge everybody here today. Don’t just make ministry about yourself, but think about the next generation. be looking for the next generation and training them, looking

for opportunities for them to come and serve alongside you. It may be inconvenient. You know, when my father was a pastor, the conference would often give us interns and between you and me,

he didn’t like having interns because a pastor’s busy like like go and do something. I’m busy.

Go and write sermons today. Good. I’ve written a sermon for this week. What am I going to do tomorrow? Well, go and visit somebody. I mean, it’s when you’re a pastor, you generally don’t want

interns because they’re hard work. It’s half your time giving interns meaningful work to do.

But it’s what God calls us to do in every generation. And Elijah is modeling for us with Elijah and with the schools of the prophets what it means. Will your

legacy stand the test of time or will it fade with us?

Want to challenge you tonight to start asking God to show you the next generation for your ministry. To ask God to bring you the next generation of men

and women and boys and girls. They’re not too young to be trained into this.

So that when you when we fade out and age out and hang up the mantle and retire, whatever the case may be, the next generation is already active in

ministry side by side with us. And they hear the word of the Lord just as surely as we do. And we’re not so proud and so uh so so full of ourselves. And so the

Lord only speaks to me and he can’t speak to the next generation until I die. No, in this case, God speaks with Elijah. He speaks with Elisha. And he’s

speaking with all the schools of the prophets all in this story. So the prophetic gift is not limited just to Elijah in this story. Will your legacy

stand the test of time? As disciples, we are to reproduce. Not just in ministry, but as disciples,

we are to reproduce. If there’s one thing you know about sheep is that sheep will reproduce. Okay? You have to look after sheep. You have to care for them.

You have to dip them. You have to clean them of scabies and all the rest of it.

The one thing you don’t have to do with sheep is make sure they reproduce. Are we reproducing?

Are we saying to God, God, give me one person this year to disciple into your kingdom and next year give me somebody else to disciple into your kingdom and

next year give me somebody else to disciple in your kingdom. I think the reason this generally doesn’t happen is because we don’t we don’t make it a priority in terms of our time and effort.

We want to get into professional ministry, but don’t give us personal connections because it takes too much of my time. I’m happy to say hi and bite

you at church, but don’t ever come to my house and don’t expect me to come to your house because I love you professionally, but personally, I really don’t care about you.

Is that not the truth? That’s the truth.

So, if we are to disciple the next generation, people need to know that they are loved, they are trusted, that we see in them a God-given future, and

it’s our privilege to help shape the next generation while we still have strength and gifts.

So this is the journey to the Jordan of Elijah and Elijah. That’s the switch now to the journey to heaven. So we gone through the journey into ministry.

Looked at the journey down to the Jordan. Now we’re going to look at the journey to heaven. This is Elijah going up to heaven above. And in the story we pick it up in 2 Kings 2:8. It says,

“Then Elijah took his mantle and rolled it up and he struck the water. The water was parted to the one side and to the other until the two of them crossed on

dry ground. Now they’re alone. The company of the prophets is watching from the Jordan side of the Jericho side of the river Jordan. They’re watching from

a distance. And Elijah’s cloak, the symbol of his authority is used to part the Jordan, just as Moses’ rod was used to part the Red Sea and gain victory

over the Amalachites. And the text goes on. It says, “When they had crossed over, Elijah said to Elisha, tell me what I may do for you before I’m taken

from you.” Elisha said, “Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.”

He responded, “You have asked a hard thing. Yet if you see me, if I’m being taken from you, it will be granted. If not, it will not.

Please let me inherit a double share of your spirit.

If you could ask the greatest of the Old Testament prophets for one thing, what would you ask for?”

Amen, brother. Yes. [clears throat] Well, like Solomon,

Elijah doesn’t ask for wealth or fame or position or power.

Elijah was the spiritual father of the schools of the prophets, but as far as we can figure out, he had no children of his own. So, when Elisha asked for

double portion of his spirit, he’s asking for the birthright.

He’s asking that the mantle of prophetic leadership among all the schools of the prophets is going to fall upon him. He’s asking for the leadership mantle to fall upon his shoulders. Within each family,

the holder of the birthright would serve as a priest for his family. With the birthright would come the public recognition that Elisha was now going to lead the schools of the prophets. This

was not a passport to power. This was an invitation to a life of sacrificial and painful service, of lonely service, of

misunderstood service, of criticized service. This is what he was asking for.

It was a great spiritual responsibility in his generation. Elisha is saying, “I will now be the bull work against evil

in the land of Israel. I will be the repairer of the wall. I will stand in the breach. I will be the public enemy number one for apostate kings and false

prophets. I will be the leading witness for Jehovah in an apostate nation.”

Elijah responds. He says, “Elish asked for a hard thing. A hard thing indeed, but not for God.

You asked for Elisha, but not for God.

Why do I say this? You’re Elisha, you’re asking for the highest mountain like Caleb. Elisha, you’re asking for the tallest giant like David. Elisha, you’re

asking for the roughest sea and the biggest o whale like Jonah. Elisha, like Daniel, you’re asking for the hungriest den of lions. Like the three Hebrews,

you’re asking for the hottest of the furnaces out there. Like Joseph, you’re asking for the deepest, darkest dungeon,

the force, most false accusations. Like Paul, you’re asking for the angriest mob. Like Peter, you’re asking to be crucified upside down. Do you realize what you’re asking for here, Elisha?

It’s not a hard thing for God to pour out his spirit. But are you ready to receive the spirit when he comes your way? Because it’s not a passport to

power. It’s an invitation to sacrificial and suffering service. Because in so doing, we follow in the path of Jesus Christ. When you ask for the Holy Spirit

to be poured upon you, you are asking for a hard thing, Elisha. But as one prophet would say to another, as Jeremiah would say to Elisha, says,

“They will fight against you, but they shall not prevail against you, for I’m with you, sayaith the Lord, to deliver you.”

Are we ready for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in our lives? Are we ready for the latter rain to be poured out in

our lives? When the latter rain is poured out and we are engaged in nothing else but sacrificial proclamation of the

everlasting gospel. When the Holy Spirit is poured out and the latter reign and the mark of the beast is poured out. Are you ready to stand um sometimes alone,

sometimes with us, but often alone. Are you ready to stand against the combined mind of every government, every corporation, every social media giant,

every employer, every police department on planet Earth? Are you ready for that moment? I want the outpouring of latter rain, but what comes with it ain’t pretty.

It ain’t pretty. So, what you have asked for Elisha is a hard thing. Not for God, but it’s a hard thing for you.

Some people, God will lay them to rest before the final time of trouble. I’m grateful for his mercy in that. I want to see Jesus when he comes again, but I

know between now and then there’s going to be a rough ride.

And if I want to see Jesus come again in the clouds of glory, then I need to recognize that everything I hold dear in this world is going to be stripped away from me. my home, my possessions, even

my family, my reputation, everything I own and work for in life is going to be taken away. We’re going to be misunderstood, misrepresented, even

within the body of Christ. We’re going to be hated within and without the body of Christ. Matthew 24:10-14,

where there’s going to be false prophets within the church. There going to be schismatic movements within the church.

There’s going to be apostasy within the church. There’s going to be lovelessness within the church. There’s going to be rejection of the law of God. and on me is the word Jesus uses. The church of

God is going to reject the very law of God that we were called into existence to proclaim.

And just to top it off, Jesus says, “And you’ll be hated by all nations for my name’s sake.”

Just to make sure there’s nowhere left to hide.

You’ll be hated within and you’ll be hated without. Are you sure you know what you’re asking for, brothers and sisters? But I want to see Jesus coming in the clouds of glory because this is

the climax of salvation history. At that moment, all human suffering comes to a shuddering halt. When Jesus comes again,

no more divorce, no more depression, no more uh no more despair, no more cancer, no more suffering of any kind, way, shape, or form. When Jesus comes again,

all suffering comes to a shuddering halt. And I want to be there for that moment, don’t you?

So, if we’re going to be there for that moment, we ask for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain. We need to understand as Elijah says to Elijah, this is a hard thing we’re asking for.

This is like getting onto a roller coaster. And my daughter loves roller coasters.

Or she did. I hate roller coasters. I just can’t see why you put yourself through that much stress in life. And we’d go to when she was a 8 9 10 11 12

13. We go to this roller coaster park and and you’d stand for an hour and a half in the the sweltering sun to have 19 seconds of terror. I mean, just

doesn’t compute in my mind. And she is so excited about the experience. And I and I’m standing there with my watch and okay, go. It’s 89 and a half seconds.

Then I close my eyes. Next time I’m counting one, two, three, four. I know how to count 90 seconds in my head because I’ve I’ve waited for an hour and

a half seeing those those uh carriages go around. When I finally sit in the roller coaster, her eyes are wide open with anticipation. My eyes are quietly

shut. And the moment that carriage goes off, one, two, three, four. And I get on that roller coaster only because I know

that in 90 seconds time there is deliverance.

And we ask for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit today because we are Adventists and we know that his promise is sure that he is coming in the clouds

of glory and therefore we can get through this time of trouble such as never has been. These nations came into existence and some may make it, some may

be persecuted, some may lose their lives, but their lives are secure in Christ.

And so do you are you sure you know what you’re asking for when you ask for the Holy Spirit? Everybody that received the Holy Spirit in scriptures went through

persecution and trials and traumas. But let me tell you this, the greatest miracles happen in the moments of deepest despair. The greater the

trouble, the greater the miracle. You don’t see miracles in the scriptures unless God’s people are in dire need and dire trouble. And when they go into dire

trouble and dire need, that’s when you see God working in a mighty and a powerful way. So, I want to see miracles of God in my life. Absolutely. Do I want

to go through times of trouble? Not particularly. So, why am I expecting to see miracles?

It’s a hard thing to ask for the Holy Spirit.

Are you sure you know what you want here, Elijah? Elisha says, Elijah,

please let me inherit a double portion of your spirit. That should be our prayer tonight.

Give me the double portion of your spirit because Satan is like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour. And we are

going to be hated by all nations for his name’s sake.

and the love of many will wax cold. When Christ comes again, will he find faith on this earth? The answer is almost no.

That’s what we’re asking for to be. As we said said on Wednesday night, the few never in the history of warfare or

never, there’s a quote to paraphrase Winston Churchill Wednesday night, never in the history of human conflict has so much be known by so many to so few. And

when Jesus comes again, it will be said then that never in the history of salvation will has her so much have been owed by so many to so few. Those

faithful ambassadors of Christ in earth’s final hours. And I want to be among that few.

That means tonight I’m asking for myself and for all of us for the gift of the Holy Spirit a double pilion so that everybody knows that the Holy Spirit has

anointed me and is empowering me for ministry. This is a gift says Elijah that he cannot give. So he leaves the matters in God’s hands. If the test is

this, if Elisha sees Elijah being taken by God, then Elijah will Elisha will know that God has heard his request for the spirit of Elijah to fall upon you.

And the story goes on. It says, “As they continued walking and talking, a chariot of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them, and Elijah ascended in a

whirlwind into heaven.” What a beautiful passage. Yes. You see, Elijah crossed the River Jordan knowing that on the

other side of the Jordan, another man had died called Moses. And God had taken him to heaven.

And God had promised him, I’m going to take you to heaven. So, he’s happy to cross the Jordan because God, if God could raise Moses, he can raise me.

And the chariot of fire separates them. That word for chariot is marava. In Israel, they have a main battle tank.

We call ours the Abrams. In Israel, it’s called the Merkava. They’ve named it after this chariot here. The Merkava,

main battle tank of Israel, is named after this story here, that chariot of fire. What was that fiery chariot? Well,

horses and chariots are often used in the Bible as symbols of the might and glory of God with which God destroys his

opponents. Habac 3:8 describes go God’s power in this way. It says, “Thou ride upon thine horses and thy chariots of

what? Salvation.” And Isaiah 66:15 says with his chariots like a whirlwind. So

when the servant of Elisha was stricken with terror because of the armies of Syria that surrounded the city of Dothan in 2 Kings 6, Elisha prayed that God

would open his eyes whereupon the young man saw that the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.

And Psalm 68:17 describes the heavenly chariots as being angelic armies with mighty chariotry.

Twice 10,000 thousands upon thousands.

The Lord came from Sinai into the holy place. So Elijah is taken to heaven by an army of angels. An army of angels.

Matthew 18 says that every child has his angel who stands for my heavenly father continually. Yes. Every child here you

have you have an angel that watches over you. The Psalm 34:7, the angel of the Lord watch around about them that fear

him and deliverth them. The next verse says, “Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good. Blessed is the man that taketh

refuge in him.” When you know that God’s armies are watching over you, you can rest peacefully in your sleep. Many years ago, 2015, it’s a long time ago

now. I was in northern Iraq 2015 and ISIS had just conquered Urbal. Uh,

sorry, Mosul. I was in Urbal, that’s 50 mi away. And that’s an hour’s drive across the desert. There were no defenses in place as yet. And everybody

and the the desert was filled with Christian women and children fleeing the murdering men of ISIS who were killing all the Christian men they could get their hands on. And I stayed with a

friend of mine. We checked into a hotel in Urbid and um we knew that we were on the front lines and every day on the CNN, that was when CNN was really news

on CNN, we watched Westerners in orange jumpsuits and what were they doing to their throats and we knew that we were targets and

every day we got into a taxi and um and the taxi driver would say Mosul? Like he thought it was funny. No, no,

no. We ain’t going to Mosul. If you take us to Mosul, we’ll be on CNN tomorrow.

Don’t take us to Mosul. I learned very quickly to read Arabic road signs. I know what Mosul looks like in Arabic. If you’re taking us to Mosul, we’re not

we’re just going to jump out of the car no matter how fast you’re going. We are not going to Mosul. And we lay down there in our bed, the two of us that night, myself, my friend. He’s a pastor

in Florida now. And we lay down there and I left a letter with my secretary to give to my wife if I didn’t come home from that particular trip. And we lay

there and we quoted that passage of scripture. Blessed the angel of the Lord watches round about them that fear him and deliverth him. Blessed is the man that taketh the refuge in the Lord. And

my friend said, “Why? How do we know that God’s going to protect us?” And I said, “Because when we in our AFM office, we wanted to do something for the Christian refugees from ISIS in the

summer of 2015. We said, Lord, if you want us to do something, we’re going to need $50,000 because if you go to the Middle East,

you need cash. When you’re not going to ship anything, you need cash.”

And we said, “Lord, we need $50,000.” In the next two days, two checks that were postmarked before the day we prayed for it came in exceeding $50,000 and they wrote on it in case you go to Iraq.

So when God does that for you,

you know that he wants you to be out there. I said to my friend, God didn’t provide the means for us to be out here uh only to see let us have our throat slit out here.

So we’re going to go to sleep tonight and claim that promise that the angel of the Lord watches around about them that fear manth them. and we’re going to sleep like peaceful babies tonight. And

that’s what we did. And thankfully, I’m still back. I’m still alive, you know. So, they didn’t they didn’t catch me.

The angel of the Lord watches around about them that fear him and deliverth them. I heard yesterday from somebody giving a testimony about how God saved their life with an angel.

And as Westerners, we don’t talk about these things cuz people think you’re kind of crazy. You know,

share what God’s angels have done for you. This person told us testimony of running out by the side of the road, a quarter of a mile in northern Michigan

winter. And a truck came up behind and said, “Let me push you.” And he pushed him the quarter of the mile down the road to the gas station, pushed him right beside the the um where where the

where the hoses and he got out of the car and that truck was no longer there.

Just gone. He said, “That was my guardian angel.” And we don’t talk about these things because people think we’re kind of crazy. We’re touched in the

head. Let me tell you this. When the vice president of America says UFOs are demons, when that kind of discussion is

taking place in the public sphere, we should not be ashamed to talk about angels and demons.

And every Muslim believes in fallen unfallen angels. Every Catholic believes in fallen unfallen angels. Jews believe in fallen and unfallen angels. That’s

over half of humanity believes in fallen unfallen angels. And there’s a book called Great Controversy with a chapter called the ministry of of angels of

fallen angels there. So there is a chapter precisely on the ministry of angels.

So don’t be ashamed to testify to what God’s angels have done in your life.

Because when Elisha sees Elijah going to heaven, it’s a confirmation that God has his angels. His angels are active today.

If the angels could take Elijah to heaven, they can rescue me from any moment of difficulty in my upcoming ministry.

And so Elisha sees Elijah going to heaven in those angels. Sister White comments on this and many of you are familiar with this. She says Elijah was a type of the saints who will be living

on the earth at the time of the second advent of Christ and who will be changed in a moment in the twinkling of an eye at the last trump without tasting death.

Quoting there from 1 Corinthians 15. It was as a representative of those who shall thus be translated that Elijah near the close of Christ’s earthly

ministry was permitted to stand with Moses by the side of the Savior on the mount of transfiguration.

In these glorified ones, the disciples saw in miniature a representation of the kingdom of the redeemed. They beheld Jesus clothed with the light of heaven.

They heard the voice out of the clouds,

Luke 9:35, acknowledging Christ as the son of God. They saw Moses representing those who will be raised um raised from the dead at the time of the second

advent. And there also stood Elijah representing those with the close of earth history will be changed from the mortal to immortal and will be

translated to heaven without seeing death.

Elijah had fought the good fight. He’d kept the faith. He’d finished his race.

And God was honoring that faithful servant of his.

I want God to honor me in the same way by being taken to heaven by an angel, an angelic army. Don’t you? Whether it goes as Moses or Elijah, I’m not too picky

about it. I just want to be taken to heaven by an angelic army.

The story goes on, says 2 Kings 2:12. It says, Elisha kept watching and crying out, “My father, father, the chariots of

Israel and its horsemen. When he could no longer see him, he grasped his own clothes and tore them in two pieces.” So

why did he cry this? Elisha had come to love Elijah as his own father.

But he was recognizing that in his generation, Elijah had been God’s bullwwork among his people. He’d be an armed charity of defense for truth in an apostate nation. Through his faith,

through his prayers, through his preaching, through his boldness, Elijah had warded off more evil and danger than any literal army ever did in ancient

Israel. He had fought the good fight of faith. In his generation, he’d stood in the breach. In his generation, he’d repaired the wall and raised up a new

generation of prophets. He had rebuked evil to its face. He had disarmed Baal.

He had raised the generation of the schools of the prophets. Such men are rare. Such men tend to be cancelled by ecclesiastical authorities. Such men are

beloved of God. Elijah had honored God through his ministry and now God was honoring him. Be a man such as Elijah in

this generation. Stand in the breach and repair the walls. stand tall for Jehovah God and say there is a God who lives in

Israel. We live in a nation that says this nation is dedicated to this or this nation dedicated to that. We have lives all around us. My life is dedicated to money, to materialism, to my career, to

pornography, to sport, whatever the case may be. But as Elijah said to Elijah, to Ahab, I stand in the presence of the living God,

and the living God is the God of this nation, and I serve him, and his ways,

his saving ways will be known throughout my ministry. Such men are beloved of God. Are you such a man today?

Do you have the courage to stand in the breach and repair the wall?

It’s nice to read about men like Elijah or Luther. It’s hard to be that kind of man, though. It’s nice to read about prophets from the safety of a thousand

years, from the safety of your own living room or bedroom. But woe bide the person who finds himself in that position today in earth’s last hours.

For that is what God is calling us to be tonight. Repairers of the breach.

Faithful witnesses to a fallen world of a loving savior.

Men who will obey the law of God rather than the mandates of men. That is what God is calling us to be tonight in 2026.

The story concludes here. It says he picked up the mantle of Elijah that had fallen upon him from him and went back and stood on the bank of the Jordan. He took the mantle of Elijah that had fallen from him and struck the water,

saying, “Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?” When he had struck the water,

the water was parted to the one side and to the other, and Elijah went over. Elisha went over.

When Elijah went to heaven, Elisha tore his own clothes in two. He was now naked.

He put off the old self. Now he puts up the new self. He’s clothed with the mantle of Elijah. That’s a sign of his authority. is a sign of his calling and

his acceptance by God. And he can minister and he can part the waters of the Jordan and cross back in the Jordan because he’s now wearing the mantle of

Elijah. And he doesn’t head west. And as you’re looking at me, west is that way,

isn’t it? Yes. He doesn’t further head west into the deserts of Saudi Arabia.

He doesn’t go back to Tishbang Gilead where Elijah had comes from. He turns around and he goes back across the Jordan back into the spiritual battle that awaits him that side. He’s not

running from the battle. He’s not taking time out.

God’s representative has been taken to heaven. Elisha is not taking RNR. He’s not taking a spiritual planning. He’s not taking a spiritual retreat. He’s

heading straight back into the fray because God’s people need a visible champion.

In our families, God’s people, our families need a visible champion for God as well. Our churches need visible

champions for God. Our communities need visible champions for God. Men and women who are not afraid to call sin by its

right name. men who are are as true to duty as a needle is to the pole. And that character is not a ro result of accident or divine providence. It’s a

character that is formed every single day when we choose for God against our fallen inclinations. And we form those characters today. That mantle Elisha now

wore was the insignia of Elijah’s prophetic office. When Elijah first called Elisha, we saw earlier on this evening, he threw his mantle upon him in

first kings 19. Now the mantle was left to Elisha at his as a bequest from the elder prophet as indication that now Elisha is the visible leader of God’s

people in in ethnic Israel. He would now be recognized as Elijah’s successor. He would now wear Elijah as a mantle.

The mantle had been passed from one generation to the next. Elijah had done all he could to prepare Elisha for this moment.

And now he was leaving Elisha with his mantle and with a double portion of the Holy Spirit.

Transitions matter. Prepare for them today. You have no idea when you’re going to be taken from your leadership role. And you can’t say in 5 years time,

I’m going to start preparing the mantle of leadership and the transition. If you’re a pastor, start working with those young men and women preparing them for leadership roles in your

congregation. Today, while you can. As a pastor, you have no idea whether you’re going to be the next church in your church in six months time or not. Don’t leave it to chance. And if you’re

running a ministry like one of the ones here at the LCI convention, don’t leave it to chance and hope that if you die on the road tonight or tomorrow or you don’t make it through next year or

whatever happens that somehow God’s going to revive your ministry. He’s going to bring somebody miraculously in.

No, be praying now for God to bring you that person and start planning for that transition. This is what stewardship of a ministry really looks like. Just as

stewardship with children means making sure the guardianship is set up if you pass away while they are still minors.

Transitions matter and if we don’t have good transitions,

the ball gets dropped and everything that God has done in your ministry and his providence and his provision and his

protection, it gets forgotten about. But training the next generation so they know what the story is of this ministry means it will be continued way beyond

you. It’s going to continue to the next generation. So what are we going to say in conclusion here tonight? Elijah said as he came to the river Jordan, he said,

“Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah?”

We might say, “Where is he today?” I’ll tell you where he is. Go back to our text in Ezekiel 22. Says, “I sought for anyone among them who would repair the

wall and stand in the breach before me on behalf of the land so that I would not destroy it, but I found no one.”

Where is the Lord, the God of Elijah today? He’s looking for men and women to stand in the breach and repair the wall.

He’s looking for men and women who will fight today’s fight, who will run today’s right, fight, run today’s race,

who will keep the faith despite all the heresies and the attacks that come upon the body of Christ today. He’s looking for men and women of that caliber today.

Men and women who will say, “Give me a double portion of your spirit. Give me the highest mountain like Caleb. Give me the fiercest lions like Daniel. Give me the tallest giants like David. Bring it on.”

Because if God before us, who can be against us? And in every generation, God needs visible champions for his people.

Oh, that every one of us in this congregation here would be a visible standing tall standing champion for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. When we

read salvation history in King in the heaven above, I don’t want to read about other people. I want to read about myself and each one of us here today. I

want the watching worlds to know. I want the watching worlds if they come ask God as as Satan asked of of uh God in Job chapter 1. I want God to say, “Did you

consider that sister of mine who was at the LCI convention in Georgia in 2026?

How she is righteous? That righteous sister, that righteous brother?” I want the watching universe to know that that we vindicate the character of God and

his love and his character by how we live our lives today. That our lives are a demonstration that there is no limit to what God can do through a life that is wholly sanctified and given over to

him. That if God is in us and if God be for us, there is no limit to what God can do for us. [snorts]

I want to be that kind of person. Don’t you?

So, the call to ministry tonight, God is looking for men and women who are going to commit to these three things. Number one, as of the call of Elisha, he’s

looking for men and women, boys and girls, who will commit number one, to a committed life. This is what it means. I will follow you no matter the cost. No

matter what comes my way, I will follow you.

Number two, he’s asking for people who will commit to a sacrificial life. I have countered the cost and I will be faithful in all things no matter how big

or small. And he’s asking for people who are looking for the empowered life.

Lord, please let me double let me inherit a double portion of your spirit and never leave me in the fight. Never leave me in the fight. That’s who God is

calling for at this LCI convention. He’s not looking for pew warmers. He’s looking for modern-day men and women of

God who will stand tall in the darkest gloom of earth’s history. when the darkness is greatest in this planet just before Jesus comes again by God’s grace

we happen to be living in that moment not Abraham Isaac or Jacob not Esther Rebecca or or Rachel it’s us

so God in his providence sees something special in us and he chose us to be his champions in earth’s darkest hour

the greatest want of the world my favorite quote is the want of men and women men who

will not be bought or sold Men who in their innermost souls are true and honest. Men who do not fear to call sin by its right name. Men whose

conscience is as true to duty as a needle to the pole. Men who will stand for the right though the heavens fall.

But such a character is not the result of of accident. It is not due to special favors or the endowments of providence.

A noble character is the result of self-discipline of the subjugation of the lower to the higher nature. The surrender of self for the service of love to God and to man.

I want to be an education 57 man today. Don’t you? Yes, sir.

I want the world to see in me and in each one of us here tonight a servant of the living God in whom the power of God is manifest on a daily basis, protected

by the angels of God, filled with the spirit of God. Um, and with a promise that one day, like Elijah, he’s going to take us to heaven with an army of angels.

That’s God’s promise to us. That’s what he’s looking for tonight. A sacrificial life, a committed life, an empower, an empowered life. I gave my life to God

when I was 13. Went forwarded an altar call. I can say that all of God’s promises have come true in my life. And if you’re a young person here today,

I want to challenge you today to give your life to the Lord Jesus Christ and say, Lord, I will live a committed life.

I will live this the sacrificial life. I will live an empowered life. For you,

all things are possible. I am a sinner worthy of nothing but death. But for you, with you, I have the promise of eternal life. And eternal life is a

prize worth fighting for. So if you want to commit your life to God as a life of sacrifice, of commitment, and the empowerment of the spirit, rise with me

now for a final prayer of invite you to rise, we stand, we bow our heads, we

close our eyes, and we ask God for the portion, the doubles portion, the spirit of Elijah. Heavenly Father,

we thank you tonight that you give your spirit to all who ask. We thank you tonight that Jesus promised, “If we

seek, we shall find. If we ask, we shall receive. And if we knock, the door will

be opened unto us.” Father, we thank you tonight that you delight to give your children the gift of your Holy Spirit.

And tonight, Father, as we gather here in this hall and for those watching online, we’re making a commitment not just before each other, but we’re making

a commitment before you on your throne of grace. We’re making a commitment before the armies of of angels who are watching, who praise you. We’re making a

commitment before the legions of demons who fear Satan. We’re making a commitment before the unfallen worlds tonight that from this moment onwards,

our life will be lived on a stage before men and angels. That we will go where you lead. that we will speak what you give to us. That we will be fearless and

bold for you. That when others are bowing and cowering in fear, we will stand tall for you. That the next generation may know that there is a God

who lives in Israel and he saves his children. So, Father, give us the portion of your Holy Spirit tonight that is sufficient for the ministries you’ve

called us to. Father, um sanctify our characters.

Give us the seal of your Holy Spirit tonight. wash away the works of the flesh and give into our characters a harvest of the fruit of the spirit that

is evidence to all that we are under your gracious control. So, Father, we give our lives into your hands tonight.

Lead us and guide us. This is our prayer. In the name of Jesus, our Lord and coming Savior. Amen. Amen.